Microenvironmental Modulation of Breast Cancer Stem Cells Through Biological Matrix
type: CreativeWork
description: Breast cancer is the second leading cause of death among American women and almost 12.5% of the women are diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in the course of her lifetime. Recent advancement in breast cancer research has identified a rare, highly tumorigenic population of cells within tumors known as cancer stem cells (CSCs) or tumor-initiating cells (TICs). These cells evidenced to share very similar properties to normal adult stem cells are hypothesized to be main regulators in tumor growth, metastasis and relapse. Evidence also suggests that tumor microenvironment plays a critical role in the development and progression of cancer, constantly by modulating cell-matrix interactions. Scientists have tried to characterize and identify the TIC population but the actual extracellular cues in deciphering the fate of TICs have not been explored. The basic unanswered question is the phenotypic stability of this TIC population in tissue extracellular matrix setting. This basic understanding of the TICs with its surrounding extracellular matrix will help us design novel material to culture and maintain these cells for clinical studies. The in vivo complexity makes it difficult to identify parameters in a diverse milieu that affect TICs behavior. In this thesis work we aim to create an in vitro culture substrate combining extracellular matrix proteins and topography to mimic the original tumor environment. Such matrix will help to maintain, propagate and expand TIC population for scientific study. The results presented in this work that the microenvironmental cues play a considerable role in tumor relapse and progression by altering the cancer stem cell behavior and thus this knowledge could be used to design novel cancer therapeutics. In chapter one, we define the cancer stem cell hypothesis, its biological implications and the significance of our work. We discuss the various phenomena taking place in the tumor microenvironment that triggers tumor relapse and distant met…
abstract: Breast cancer is the second leading cause of death among American women and almost 12.5% of the women are diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in the course of her lifetime. Recent advancement in breast cancer research has identified a rare, highly tumorigenic population of cells within tumors known as cancer stem cells (CSCs) or tumor-initiating cells (TICs). These cells evidenced to share very similar properties to normal adult stem cells are hypothesized to be main regulators in tumor growth, metastasis and relapse. Evidence also suggests that tumor microenvironment plays a critical role in the development and progression of cancer, constantly by modulating cell-matrix interactions. Scientists have tried to characterize and identify the TIC population but the actual extracellular cues in deciphering the fate of TICs have not been explored. The basic unanswered question is the phenotypic stability of this TIC population in tissue extracellular matrix setting. This basic understanding of the TICs with its surrounding extracellular matrix will help us design novel material to culture and maintain these cells for clinical studies. The in vivo complexity makes it difficult to identify parameters in a diverse milieu that affect TICs behavior. In this thesis work we aim to create an in vitro culture substrate combining extracellular matrix proteins and topography to mimic the original tumor environment. Such matrix will help to maintain, propagate and expand TIC population for scientific study. The results presented in this work that the microenvironmental cues play a considerable role in tumor relapse and progression by altering the cancer stem cell behavior and thus this knowledge could be used to design novel cancer therapeutics. In chapter one, we define the cancer stem cell hypothesis, its biological implications and the significance of our work. We discuss the various phenomena taking place in the tumor microenvironment that triggers tumor relapse and distant met…
author: Saha, Sharmistha
keywords: Chemistry, Physical Sciences and Mathematics, Breast cancer, Cancer stem cells, Electrospinning, Epithelial mesenchymal transition, Laminin, Tumor initiating cells
date published: 2012-01-01T08:00:00Z
date modified: 2026-07-24T04:38:31Z
provider: University of South Carolina
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of South Carolina